For the second straight week the Eagles are among the exceptions. They quietly know they have a good chance of winning if they simply avoid turnovers and stay out of the way of their winless opponent.

In this case the odds favor the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and rookie quarterback Mike Glennon beating themselves Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

The 84-degree heat could be an issue.

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There’s going to be a lot of talk about MRSA, the highly contagious staph infection sweeping through the Buccaneers (0-4) facility.

But the biggest issue for the Eagles (2-3) is avoiding a letdown. It would be a mistake to look ahead to next week’s NFC East showdown with the Dallas Cowboys, who are a tiebreaker behind in the standings.

“There’s a lot riding on this game,” said wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who leads the Eagles in receptions and is tied for the team lead with three touchdowns. “We don’t want to look too far into Dallas week because that’s going to be a huge game, too. All we can do is eat what’s in front of our face, and that’s Tampa Bay. We have to take one meal at a time. You can’t stuff it all in your face at once.”

Nick Foles will likely start at quarterback for the Eagles (2-3). Foles beat the Bucs here last year on the final play of the game for his only victory as a starter.

Foles fired two touchdown passes last week in relief of Michael Vick, injured late in the first half of what became a 36-21 romp against the still winless New York Giants.

Though the Eagles needed Alex Henery to kick five field goals, one of the keys to the success was a turnover-free game by Foles. It was the only game in which Foles hadn’t thrown an interception or lost a fumble since he joined the NFL, with the exception of that win against the Bucs last year. Teammates noticed.

“I think that Nick Foles is very capable and I think Michael Vick is very capable,” said Eagles cornerback Cary Williams, tied for the team lead with two interceptions. “Those guys are running the offense very well.

Nick has come in and played tremendous for us last week. We have the utmost confidence in him. We think that he could give us a win and it could boost us. I don’t think anything less of Nick. Nick is a great quarterback. If he’s my quarterback this week I back him.”

Glennon, a third-round pick out of North Carolina State, is a smart quarterback. At 6-foot-6, 232-pounds, he can take a beating but is strictly a pocket passer according to Eagles rookie safety Earl Wolff, a teammate of Glennon’s with the Wolfpack.

Glennon had the Bucs in position to upset the Arizona Cardinals a couple of weeks ago, a tribute to his smarts and his teammates, rallying after veteran quarterback Josh Freeman was cut loose.

But as rookies are prone to do, Glennon self-destructed. He has one touchdown pass and two interceptions.

“He’s a big guy,” Williams said. “He has a big arm. He can make the big throws down the field. At the end of the day he’s still a rookie. I think it’s important and imperative for us to get out there and disrupt the timing of the wide receivers with him. And for our defensive line getting their hands in his face making those windows a lot more muddier than what they’ve seen in the past. If we disguise as a defense we can confuse him a little bit.”

The Eagles are coming off a game in which they forced four turnovers. They intercepted Eli Manning three times.

Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin, by the way, doesn’t think the Eagles will have an issue stepping down in competition from Peyton and Eli Manning in successive weeks to Glennon.

“It’s a big game for us,” Barwin said. “I don’t think there’s anybody in here that is going to have any trouble getting up for this game. And I think we have to do exactly what we (did) last week against Manning. We were able to get in his face a little bit and get him off the mark. We want to do the same thing from the jump against (Glennon). I wouldn’t say we fooled Eli. But he didn’t get used to any of our looks. I think if we can do that to him it should work against a rookie quarterback.”

To ease the transition for Glennon, the Buccaneers are expected to run Doug Martin, the Boise State product, behind a solid offensive line. Stopping the run has been an issue for the Eagles.

“I know we held the Giants to 57 yards,” Barwin said. “That’s good. If we hold the Bucs to that we’ll be just fine.”